So I got a male baby ringneck on sunday he was hatched March 25th so he is 2 months old. He was on 2 feeds a day and was picking at pellets and fruit/veg according to the breeder. The breeder had mostly tube fed the babies because he says IRN are terribly difficult to feed and will refuse food. he said this one he had been syringe feeding for some time now so he should be fine. Well we got him home and he refuses to hand feed and refuses to eat anything. We can towel him and force him to eat but I hate doing that. I have hand fed plenty of birds from African Greys to cockatiels and never had anything like this. He is also refusing to eat any fruit or veggies or pellets or seeds or millet or anything unless its forced down. He sits on one spot on his perch and doesn't move except to preen a little and turn around some times. I am at a loss as to what to try to get him to eat and am on the verge of bringing him back to the breeder to finish weaning completely. He is getting a little more comfortable with me and will sit on my fingers without flying off but he is still pretty nervous. I have never heard of IRN being so difficult to feed or of them starving themselves to death but the breeder says they will. He was suppose to be a hand fed/tamed baby but I think the breeder just tubed them and moved on due to the number of babies he has of multiple breeds so this baby is not really hand tamed much beyond getting a tube feeding.

This is a really old topic but now it needs an answer for those searching the threads in years to come:

I don't think I ever had a baby IRN refuse food unless he was preparing to fledge. I very much disagree that baby IRNs are difficult to feed- the ones I raised were practically pigs in little feathered bodies. Gavage or tube feeding is the quickest way to feed and lets a breeder spend as little time as possible with each chick. I think you're right that the breeder wasn't really hand-feeding (in the sense of making the chicks comfortable with people) and was gavage feeding them just so he could sell them at an increased price as "hand-fed/raised".

That being said, if he is 2 months old then he should be almost weaned and preparing to fledge. Chicks at this age normally begin eating less so that they can lose some weight to prepare for flight. Your best investment would be a scale to track his weight. Just because you don't SEE him eat, doesn't mean he isn't eating. You might also try free-feeding some nice mushy foods, even warmed, for him to try.

Please don't force-feed seeds (not sure if you intended to imply that you have, and I want to mention this for the sake of future readers of this topic) since parrots hull/shell their seeds prior to eating. It's not a good practice to force-feed anthing really, unless there is a medical reason for it (and even then, under an avian vet's direction).

Cannsyl wrote:Hi guys,

So I got a male baby ringneck on sunday he was hatched March 25th so he is 2 months old. He was on 2 feeds a day and was picking at pellets and fruit/veg according to the breeder. The breeder had mostly tube fed the babies because he says IRN are terribly difficult to feed and will refuse food. he said this one he had been syringe feeding for some time now so he should be fine. Well we got him home and he refuses to hand feed and refuses to eat anything. We can towel him and force him to eat but I hate doing that. I have hand fed plenty of birds from African Greys to cockatiels and never had anything like this. He is also refusing to eat any fruit or veggies or pellets or seeds or millet or anything unless its forced down. He sits on one spot on his perch and doesn't move except to preen a little and turn around some times. I am at a loss as to what to try to get him to eat and am on the verge of bringing him back to the breeder to finish weaning completely. He is getting a little more comfortable with me and will sit on my fingers without flying off but he is still pretty nervous. I have never heard of IRN being so difficult to feed or of them starving themselves to death but the breeder says they will. He was suppose to be a hand fed/tamed baby but I think the breeder just tubed them and moved on due to the number of babies he has of multiple breeds so this baby is not really hand tamed much beyond getting a tube feeding.

thanks in advance for any help.

I've been called 'birdbrained' before, but somehow I don't think this is what they meant. say:hah-nay